Free previous edition, paid latest edition (versioned freemium)
Update 30 Oct 2026 (21:50 rule): the minus series now starts at -v0.0.2 — there is no -v0.0.1. Old -v0.0.1 → -v0.0.2, old -v0.0.2 → -v0.0.3, and so on; hashtags #_v0.0.2, #_v0.0.3 …. v0.0.2 and v0.0.1 are unchanged. Examples below that show -v0.0.1 / #_v0.0.1 as an older label predate this rule.
Written 30 Oct 2026 for Cedwyn's site-wide version rule (latest v0.0.2 at £4.99; v0.0.1 and older v-0.0.1, v-0.0.2 ... free). Sibling files, not repeated here: free-first-edition-funnel.md (permafree first book + reader magnet), versioned-release-rising-price-ladder.md (Leanpub price ladder), new-release-launch-backlist-price-promo.md (BookBub backlist promo), release-notes-changelog-versioned-ebooks-art.md. What this file adds: the evidence that giving away the OLDER edition does not eat sales of the newer one, and the page pattern that sends free readers to the paid edition.
Evidence (read 30 Oct 2026)
- Baen Free Library, Eric Flint, "Prime Palaver #6" (15 Apr 2002). Primary, author's own royalty statements.
- Mother of Demons went free in autumn 2000 at 9,694 copies sold and 54% sell-through. Eighteen months later it stood at about 18,500 copies and 65% sell-through. Flint credits most of that to his own rising profile, not the library.
- An Oblique Approach, a 1998 paperback, had sold 835 and then 795 copies in successive half-years. It went free in autumn 2000, and the next comparable period sold 1,904, which is +239%.
- In the Heart of Darkness: 1,704 copies before going free, 1,886 a year later. That is a rise instead of the usual decline.
- 1632 was put in the library when its cheaper paperback came out, a year after the hardcover. It reached about 34,000 net and 88% sell-through. Flint gives the industry paperback average as 40-50% sell-through.
- Traffic: more than 130,000 visits to the free library in Q4 2001, about 1,500 a day.
- His stated mechanism: "By far the main enemy any author faces ... is simply obscurity." Readers won't pay to try an unknown author, but a free older book lets them try first.
- Hilton & Wiley 2010, Journal of Electronic Publishing 13(1). Peer-reviewed; abstract read.
- BookScan sales for 41 books, 8 weeks before and 8 weeks after a free digital version appeared.
- Three of the four categories sold more afterwards.
- The search snippet of the full text states only 4 of 24 Tor titles rose. That is the contrary case: a free giveaway of the current book in a single burst did not lift sales.
- The full text was not read (403), so treat the Tor figure as not checked.
- Live practitioner pages (read 30 Oct 2026):
- automatetheboringstuff.com: "Over 500,000 copies sold. Free to read under a Creative Commons license." The 2nd and 3rd editions each stay online at /2e/ and /3e/, with buy links on every page.
- eloquentjavascript.net: old editions are still free at /3rd_edition/ and /2nd_edition/. Each carries a top banner, "A 4th edition is available. Read it here!"
- The pattern: old versions stay up, stay free, and every page points one step forward.
What works (rules)
- Free the older edition, never the newest. Flint freed a title when its cheaper or later format appeared. Old editions stay as discovery doors.
- Every old-edition page gets one forward banner at the top, Eloquent JS style: "A newer edition (v0.0.2) is available — what changed ->". It links to the paid version's page, not to checkout.
- Keep old editions online at stable URLs. Never 404 or redirect them away. They are the pages that collect links and search traffic. Use a canonical tag only where the content is a true duplicate.
- Say what is new in v0.0.2 in one or two concrete lines (new records, new chapters). "Free vs paid" is weaker than "what you'd be missing". The release-notes file covers the format.
- Don't judge it from an 8-week burst. Tor's 1-in-6 result came from a short giveaway of the current title. Baen's gains showed up over 12-18 months of continuous free availability. Measure free downloads → v0.0.2 page views → sales monthly, for at least 3 months.
- No "was £x" / saving assertions. The free edition is a different edition, not a discount. This also keeps clear of CMA/DMCC price-comparison rules (see versioned-release-rising-price-ladder.md).
How we apply it to Cedwyn
- The rule the project lead set on 30 Oct 2026 already matches the Baen pattern: latest is paid, older is free.
- To do:
- Every free version page (v0.0.1, v-0.0.1 ...) on /ebooks/ and the documentary gets the forward banner: "Newer edition: #_v0.0.2 — what's new ->". It links to that book's v0.0.2 page and is never a buy.stripe.com link fired by a script.
- Give each paid v0.0.2 card a two-line "new in this edition" note.
- Keep every old version's URL alive.
- Measure in the sales-fix log: free-version downloads, banner clicks (signup-source/UTM tag
src=oldedition-banner), v0.0.2 page views and sales, monthly. After 3 months with 0 banner clicks, rewrite the banner. Never change price because of it. - Owners and boundaries: the sales-fix and documentary workers own the page edits, so this file is a proposal for them. No price changes and no bandit tests on prices.
Sources
- web.archive.org (Flint, Prime Palaver #6, 15 Apr 2002, read)
- en.wikipedia.org (read; context)
- scholarsarchive.byu.edu (Hilton & Wiley 2010 abstract, read) · doi.org (full text, snippet only)
- automatetheboringstuff.com , /2e/ , /3e/ (read)
- eloquentjavascript.net , /2nd_edition/ (read; forward banner)
Raw Markdown: free-previous-edition-paid-latest-baen-pattern.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json